I’ve been motivated — and demotivated — by other folks’ achievement s all my life.

When I was a teenager, a neighborhood friend ____41____ a marathon race. Feeling motivated, I started running ____42____, but then two things happened. First, a girl I met one day told me she was ____43____ for a “super,” referring to a 52.4-mile double marathon. Then, the next day I went on my longest run — 15 miles. To be honest, I ____44____ it! Between the girl making my ____45____ seem small and the pure boredom of jogging, I decided that the only ____46____ I’d ever run again is if a big dog was running after me!

So I ____47____ cycling. I got a good bike and rode a lot. I ____48____ of entering cycle races until I flew to San Diego to visit my sister. While she was at work one day, I ____49____ her bike and went for a ride. The ____50____: The roads there went through large valleys where I’d be riding uphill for miles at a time. I’d never faced such ____51____. That day, I got ____52____ by about 100 “local” bikers who were used to such roads. When I got back home, suddenly riding my bike didn’t seem quite as ____53____.

I’ve ____54____ a lot since then. I’ve come to accept that whatever ____55____ I set for myself, they just have to be my own.